Personal computer systems have had a pervasive impact on the educational system in the United States. Even in grammar schools and high schools, several personal computer systems are a common educational tool used in the classroom. Although the cost of a personal computer system has dropped dramatically in recent years, the ratio of students to computers is still great. As a result, there is only limited time for a student to operate a computer system, in order for each student to get an opportunity to use the limited number of computer systems typically made available in public schools in the United States. Much of the time a student spends using a personal computer system in the classroom is devoted to entering text in preparation of a homework assignment, such as a paper or report.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for dramatically reducing the amount of time a computer system is used merely for entering a mass of text or data.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method and apparatus whereby a mass of text or data to be stored or processed by a computer may be initially input directly into a keyboard unattached to the computer system.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus and method that is portable, inexpensive and capable of use with a variety of different computers.
The above objects are realized in the present invention which provides a portable computer keyboard capable of operation in three distinct modes. The keyboard of the invention may be operated in a stand-alone mode unattached to a computer system, wherein information entered in the form of keystrokes is stored into a memory buffer contained within the device itself.
A second mode of the invention involves operation of the keyboard device as a conventional keyboard when attached to a host computer. In this mode, individual keystrokes are transmitted directly from the keyboard device to a computer system via a conventional keyboard input receptacle.
A third mode of operation of the keyboard of the present invention is an automatic mode, where information previously stored in the keyboard data buffer is automatically transmitted to an attached computer system via a conventional keyboard input receptacle.
In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the stand-alone mode may be enhanced by providing the keyboard device with a small display, such as a 4-line, 40-column liquid crystal display. In addition, editing functions may be implemented whereby text or other data stored in the keyboard buffer may be selectively viewed or edited, while the device is operated in a stand-alone mode.
An important aspect of the present invention is the recognition of the computer keyboard input receptacle as a fundamental and standard means for transferring information to the computer system. Conventional communication and data transfer techniques are typically cumbersome, require additional hardware and need to be configured for a specific protocol. In contrast, by emulating the signals generated by a conventional computer keyboard, the present invention may advantageously transmit information from an on-board data buffer to a computer through a standard keyboard input receptacle, without any additional hardware and without requiring configuration of the host computer to accept a particular communication protocol.